Larijani urges Palestinian vigilance over proposed talks with Israel

Iran’s Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani has urged Palestinians to remain vigilant against a fresh Western plot to orchestrate a so-called conciliation deal that would serve the interests of the Israeli regime.
Larijani on Sunday described as suspicious the repeated contacts that international brokers have made with certain elements from the Palestinian side, Israeli regime and some Arab states to resume conciliatory talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
The agenda of the newly-proposed talks between the two sides does not even include a call for stopping the illegal Israeli settlements, he said.
Pointing to the foreign-sponsored crises in Egypt and Syria, Larijani said, “It appears that the West and some reactionary states in the region see the time right to provide the isolated and evil Zionist regime with some breathing room and once again win concessions for this regime through a theatrical game.”
US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday that the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel have agreed to meet and prepare for the resumption of talks.
“We have reached an agreement that establishes the basis for resuming direct final status negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis,” Kerry said, adding, “The agreement is still in the process of being formalized.”
He gave no details of what had been agreed so far.
The Palestinian-Israeli talks were halted in September 2010 over disagreements on Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinians are seeking to create an independent state on the territories of the West Bank, East al-Quds (Jerusalem), and the Gaza Strip and are demanding that Israel withdraw from the Palestinian territories occupied in the Six-Day War of 1967.
Tel Aviv, however, has refused to return to the 1967 borders and is unwilling to discuss the issue of al-Quds.
MFB/NN/HMV